DOA5: Bass Character Breakdown

Bass was not available in the E3 build of Dead or Alive 5 that was on the show floor. However, lucky members of the media were able to catch an early glimpse of the legendary wrestling superstar. At the time he seemed to be shaping up quite well, but it was still very early and a lot has changed since then, both in terms of game system changes and direct changes to the characters. As we took a closer look at Bass Armstrong, we found that he is the definition of a heavy-hitting, grappler character.

As you may already know, there are several stuns in DOA5 that do not allow an opponent to use a counter hold. The original intention was also to have any stun that knocks the opponent off of their feet, stop them from countering immediately. The idea was to give the offensive player a little time to play with before a counter hold, but not enough to land any guaranteed attacks. This didn’t work as well as we’d hoped in the E3 build of the game, but playing as Bass Armstrong has shown us that things are working much better now.

Bass has several attacks that knock an opponent off their feet and into a sitting position. Now this is a different stun than what we’ve been calling a “sit-down” stun up until now. This isn’t a new stun, it’s what you’d normally see when hitting an opposing character with a counter hit low kick. It basically trips the opponent, so we’ll call it a trip stun. While a trip stun doesn’t guarantee a follow-up attack, it gives the character a short period of time to see if a counter is coming. If the opponent attempts to counter immediately, the counter will be buffered during the trip stun and will come out as soon as the character is free to counter. We won’t quote frame data, but in the case of Bass Armstrong’s trip stuns, he has just enough time to land a hi counter throw.

In addition to the new trip stun mechanics (which isn’t limited to Bass), the legendary wrestler has more guard break attacks than any other character in the game. This gives him quite a few safe attacks and even some that leave him at an advantage. He also has a few sit-down stuns, but most come as the second attack in a two hit string. Usually this would be an issue, but since the first attack in the string is not safe, it becomes a mind game as to whether or not Bass will finish with the second attack. In one case, if he finishes, the second attack is a guard break when blocked. This makes it even more dangerous for the opponent to attempt to attack after blocking the first hit. You’re free to sidestep, but throws track in this game, and you don’t want to get hit by any of Mr. Armstrong’s throws.

Speaking of throws, Bass has a multitude of combo throws. Some can be broken, others cannot. The throws that can be escaped leave Bass at significant advantage. Not enough to score a guaranteed attack, but more than enough to ensure his next attack can’t be interrupted. This also goes for his neutral throw, which is faster than most other character’s throws due to the fact that Bass is a grappler character.

During our E3 character breakdowns, we mentioned that Bayman had guaranteed ground throws after connecting with certain attacks. Bass is the same way, but his primary ground throw (he has several) does not inflict any damage. Instead, it picks the opponent up off the ground and pushes them forward, giving Bass significant advantage (yet again). He can’t land any guaranteed attacks, but he does get uninterruptable attacks, including several of his guard breaks. Granted, the opponent has just enough time to use a counter, but with super damaging throws like Bass has, that’s not a very wise choice.

While Bass won’t be playing the stun game very often (most of his attacks are single hit knock down moves), his Critical Burst is one of the best in the game. It’s about the same speed as most other Critical Burst attacks, but it’s safe if blocked. Couple this with the fact that it stuns on normal hit (the opponent can counter out of this stun), and you have a very dangerous attack on your hands.

Against Bass, you have quite a few things to worry about. If you block any of his guard breaks he has advantage in the best case scenario, and is safe in the worst case scenario. If you attack in the middle of his two hit strings, you risk being put in a sit-down stun. If you block, you’re eating another guard break. If you side step, you may eat a throw, and if you break the throw you’re still at a disadvantage. Then if Bass connects with various attacks, it slams you to the ground and gives him a guaranteed ground throw... which leaves him at advantage yet again. The only real weakness Bass has is the fact that he’s a little slower than other characters, but we when say, “a little” we mean that. The difference is minimal and hardly noticeable in most cases.

Despite the huge improvements Bass has been graced with, he wasn’t a particularly popular character in Dead or Alive 4. Because of this fact, it’s unlikely we’ll see him played much at the next “I’m a Fighter” World Championship on August 18th. But, maybe we’ll get lucky and catch of glimpse of him, so stay tuned to doa.ign.com for a full broadcast of the event, and more character breakdowns and match videos all next week.